Course Description

In this course, NYU's Stern Business School Professor Aswath Damodaran gives 23 video lectures on Valuation.

Knowing what an asset is worth and what determines that value is a pre-requisite for intelligent decision making -- in choosing investments for a portfolio, in deciding on the appropriate price to pay or receive in a takeover and in making investment, financing and dividend choices when running a business. The premise of valuation is that we can make reasonable estimates of value for most assets, and that the same fundamental principles determine the values of all types of assets, real as well as financial. Some assets are easier to value than others, the details of valuation vary from asset to asset, and the uncertainty associated with value estimates is different for different assets, but the core principles remain the same. This introduction lays out some general insights about the valuation process and outlines the role that valuation plays in portfolio management, acquisition analysis and in corporate finance. It also examines the three basic approaches that can be used to value an asset.